This of course is a stark contrast to the language used in the second scene. Romeo’s language is still very romantic (‘it is enough I may but call her mine.’ Line 8), but oxymorons are not used here in the sense of bringing together love and hate. This suggests that Romeo and Juliet know exactly what they are doing when they are getting married and shows that their love is true. This contrasts Romeo’s perhaps deliberate confusion with his very level- headedness in this scene, which enhances the idea that Romeo and Juliet are truly in love.
Another focus in the first scene is that Romeo’s ‘love’ for Rosaline is unrequited. This could have been a technique on Shakespeare’s part to make the audience emphasise with and feel closer to Romeo. At the time of Shakespeare, most people would have been familiar with the works of Petrarch, an Italian lyric poet. Petrarch wrote and revised many sonnets between 1327 and 1374, and in many of them Petrarch names a woman called Laura, whom Petrarch loved, but his love was not returned. This meant that when he was with her, it caused him such great pleasure, but at the same time it was unbearable, because he knew his love was unrequited.
This is how we can say that Romeo was suffering Petrarchan love and it would have been entirely understandable to Shakespearean audiences. However it also lets us know that the love affair that Romeo has with Rosaline causes her to be more of an idol than a true love. This again contrasts with the wedding scene between Romeo and Juliet. In the last fourteen lines of the scene, Romeo declares his love for Juliet and Juliet follows by returning all of Romeo’s feelings. The result of this is that Romeo and Juliet’s true love is highlighted and it shows Romeo’s maturity from a state of idolising Rosaline to truly loving Juliet.
There is a great difference in the line lengths between Act 1 Scene 1 and Act 2 Scene 6. In the first lines between Romeo and Benvolio in the first scene the lines are short and end- stopped, and in places there are interjects (Benvolio: “In love?”, Romeo: “Out”- , Benvolio: “Of love?”- Lines 164-166). This breaks up the natural flow and rhythm of the words and again suggests that Romeo is confused and is struggling to understand his feelings.
However in the last fourteen lines of Romeo and Juliet’s wedding scene the two ‘star- crossed lovers’ share a sonnet (except that it lacks the unique rhyming pattern of a sonnet). Unlike Romeo and Rosaline, this implies that Romeo and Juliet have some inner connection that causes their words to join together effortlessly. The audience is expected to believe that this connection is true love.
It is important to take into account the attitudes of other characters towards the two different types of love. In each scene there is a ‘bystander’ who has an outside view of the lovers’ situation. In the first scene this character is Benvolio. He helps the audience along in their suspicion that Romeo is not truly in love with Rosaline as he does not take Romeo seriously and kindly recommends Romeo to “examine other beauties”(Line 227). Romeo of course does not follow this recommendation but ironically this is exactly what will soon happen. Again the effect of Romeo’s involvement here is to show that Romeo is not truly in love with Rosaline and set the scene for Romeo’s first sight of Juliet.
In the second scene the ‘bystander’ is the friar. It seems that he has reservations about the marriage of Romeo and Juliet just as Benvolio was unconvinced about Romeo’s infatuation with Rosaline. The friar thinks that Romeo and Juliet’s love affair is too rushed and warns that “too swift arrives as tardy as too slow”. This brings forth the other main element in the play which is tragedy. One of the causes of Romeo and Juliet’s death at the end of the play is that everything happens too quickly. The friar’s caution that “violent delights have violent ends” relates back to the prologue when the death of the two lovers is prophesied. This tells the audience of the intensity of Romeo and Juliet’s love, because they are going against the heavens (and religion played a huge part in Shakespearean society) because of their love for each other.
The main type of love in this play is of course true love which is shared between Romeo and Juliet. The other types of love really just serve to highlight the strength and uniqueness of Romeo and Juliet’s love. Although this love causes their tragic deaths at the end of the play it shows how strong their love must have been for them both to have made the ultimate sacrifice for each other. Their love also brings the two feuding families into peace. All the different variations of love in this work of Shakespeare come together to create a most beautiful and memorable play.
